Gift of the sea
by Hina714
Summary: Umiko, daughter of the world's greatest swordsmen. Force to run and keep her parentage and power a secret because of the world government. On her adventures with the straw hats, can she really keep them secret or will she be forced to reveal them? Especially to her greened hair best friend/crush? What is this power she keeps secret? And why is she on the run? Story follows canon
1. Prologue

In a bar in Loguetown, the Rogers pirates were celebrating conquering the Grand Line with their captain, The Pirate King, Gold D Rogers. The crew was having the time of their lives. Other pirates from around the sea came and joined the party too. Such as Hawkeye Mihawk, who was chatting with Shanks while they had a drink.

Gol D Rogers took a big gulp of his beer while his vice captain, Rayleigh was sitting comfortably next to him "Well, we did it. We actually did it."

"Yup, we sure did. It's kind of sad that such a great adventure had to come to an end" Rogers said

Rayleigh nodded "Yes, but we will hold the memory of this journey in our hearts for the rest of our lives"

"That we will, partner...that we will"

His vice captain's expression went from relaxed to serious "So, have you decided on who you're giving it to?"

Rogers glanced at him

"You kept it only between yourself and I, telling me you were going to give it to a member of our crew" He looked at every member of their crew "Have you decided yet?"

When Rayleigh didn't get a response, he looked over at Roger and saw that he was looking somewhere else. He followed his captain's gaze and his eyes landed on the woman sitting on the other side of Hawkeye, speaking to him. She had smooth and silky royal blue hair that reached her shoulders. Her eyes were the same color as her hair and her skin was pale and flawless. She wore a white jacket over her black tank top, black shorts that reached her mid thigh, black boots and a sword strapped to her hip.

"You're going to give it to Aiko?" He asked

The captain responded with a hm

"But she's not interested in having power such as that. You know she believes that people can be just as powerful without eating one of those fruits"

Rogers continued to look at her as she interacted with Mihawk. He could see her cheeks were a bit pink as she spoke to him, her eyes showed admiration and love for the man. Mihawk face, while it showed no emotion, his eyes showed the same love for her as she had for him. Although it went unnoticed by the others, Rogers could see their hands intertwining under the counter of the table.

He smiled "I know that...but I also know it would be best if if is left with her"

Rayleigh watched as Rogers finished his drink and walked up to her. He had no doubt that if Aiko was interested, she would use it for the right reasons, but he still wondered why give it to her?

"Aiko..."

Said girl was snapped out of her love struck daze and quickly pulled her hand away, blushing when she saw her captain behind her "O-Oh hello captain...you um enjoying the party?"

He laughed at her nervous expression "Not as much as you two are I see..."

She looked at the knees, blushing with embarrassment while Mihawk turned away, having a little tint of pink in his cheeks. "Is there something you need, Rogers?" He asked

"As a matter of fact, there is"

He turned to Aiko "Come with me, my dear"

She looked confused but nodded, turning to Mihawk and Shanks, giving them a look that told them she'd be back. They nod and both she and Rogers walked out of the bar, but not before hearing Shanks tease Mihawk about the little hand holding under the table. Guess Rogers wasn't the only one that noticed.

They walked in silence for a while, during that time Aiko wondered why did the captain want to talk to her alone. _Did I do something? Maybe he found out that I took one of his favorite bottle of sake and shared it with Mihawk?!_ She swallowed hard knowing how much his sake and that if you mess with it, you'll go through hell.

They stopped at the pier, where the sea was sparkling under the glow moon.

He broke the silence "You sure have changed, haven't you?"

"Huh?" She walked to his side and looked at him

"You are much different now than you were before..."

She looked in front of her and nodded

"Before you were so aloof, so cold to others. It was like you had nothing more to life for, no joy in your heart..."

She remembered that time in her life. Her parents were former pirates with huge bounties on their heads. They were part of a pirate crew that caused all sorts of trouble for the marines. But they find out they were going to have a baby, they quit that life to lead normal lives in a small village where they hoped no marines would find them. Unfortunately, when she was 14, the marines found out where they've been hiding and came after them. Her father held them off while her and her mother ran. Her mother hid her somewhere safe and told her that she loved her and went back for her husband. But they never came back, the next morning she came out of her hiding place and went to her home and found blood everywhere. She ran out and searched the whole village for them. When she cane to the shore, she hid again as she saw marine officers speaking to each other. They were talking about the night before and that both of her parents were dead.

Between that time and before being a Roger pirate, she became cold hearted and distanced. She didn't care if she lived or died. It was only after joining the Roger pirates that she became her old self again and she couldn't thank her captain enough for that.

"And now look at ya..." The captain said, bring her out of her memories "You're a different person now and I must say I like this person a lot better"

"It was...because of you and the other...that I became the person I am today..." She said softly, tears forming in her eyes "I still can't thank you enough..."

"I keep telling you to stop thanking me, I was happy to do it and I'm got you're the way you are now" He said patting her head

They continued to look back at the sea, watching the waves push and pull.

"Aiko..."

"Yes, captain?"

"There is a question that I've been wanting to ask you for a while..."

"Yes?"

"Throughout our adventures, we've had many encounters with the marines and yet you haven't killed any of them, not even one. Most people would seek revenge after what they've put you through, so why not you?"

Aiko stayed silent for a while, then she answered "I'd be no better than them if I went after them..."

He turned, looking at her for the first time since they got there

"First off, I don't remember the faces of the men who killed them, so the only choice I would have is to kill every marine I see until I killed the men I was looking for. But then I would have been a murderer, I would have killed so many innocent men and...I didn't want that."

She smiled sadly "My parents were trouble making pirates but they were good people. They told me about their adventures together and how they killed some people. But it's not because they wanted to...it was because they had no choice but to. They wouldn't have wanted me to kill unless it was my only choice" She turned to him and her smile brighten a bit "So I look for alternatives solutions, it's better than having blood of a dead man on your hands, right?"

He looked at her, blinking before bursting out in laughter "I should've known you'd say something like that, now I know I'm making the right choice"

Aiko was confused "The right choice?"

Rogers laughed for another minute then stepped closer to the edge of the pier "Aiko, you've studied up on devil fruit powers, correct?"

She nodded "Yes, I have. I may not want a devil fruit power but it doesn't mean I not interested in learning about them"

"So then you've heard of the gift of the sea?"

Aiko raised a brow "Why do you ask?"

He ignored her question "Tell me what do you know about it?"

"Well I know that not many people know about it and that most think it's just a myth..." She bit her lip, hesitating to continue

"Go on, I know you know more than that"

Sighing, she continued "I also know that the gift of the sea is a devil fruit however it's not called a devil fruit because devil fruit considered cursed due to the fact that they take away the user's ability to swim. But this fruit doesn't and this fruit is smaller than the other fruits."

Rogers nodded, telling her she was correct on all points "But you never learned what its power is, have you?"

"No, captain. The legends on this fruit never did say what the power contained in it was" She looked at his back "Why are you asking me this?"

Rogers turned around and faced her. He reached into the inner pocket of his captain's coat and pulled out a hand sized treasure chest. He walked up to her and handed her the chest. She looked at the chest then up at him, she took it when she saw him nod and opened it slowly. Her eyes widen, a look of shock and disbelief was written on her face "I-It can't be..."

In the chest was a strawberry, however it wasn't a strawberry, just it's shape. It was blue and the pattern on it remained her of the waves of the sea. "C-Captain...this is..."

"The gift of the sea..." He nodded "Rayleigh and I found it when we went off alone without you and the crew. Ever since we've find it, I've been thinking long and hard about who to give it to..." He smiled down at her "But now I found the right person"

Aiko turned her gaze away from the fruit and looked up at her captain, the look on his face told her what he was thinking "M-Me?! B-But I'm don't even...I mean I'm happy and honored you would choose me...but..."

"I know it will be safe with you and I know that if you decide to give it to another in the future, you will make the right choice"

Aiko still couldn't believe this was happening. She was holding a chest containing the gift of the sea and here her captain was asking her to keep it safe. She closed the chest and held it close to her body "I still refuse to have devil fruit powers..." She tighten her hold on the chest "But I will keep it safe, I promise captain"

He chuckles, walking away "I know you will, Aiko. I know you will"

What he didn't tell her is that when he first picked up the fruit, an imagine of a young girl popped into his mind. This girl wasn't Aiko, but had hunch that Aiko knew or would know her and that she would give that fruit

* * *

8 years later after Gol D. Rogers execution

Aiko was sitting on the porch of her home on an island in the Grand Line, thinking about the years that passed by. From when her captain was executed to the news of him about to become a father. The memory of what came of that made her clutch her fists in anger and frustration. The marines forced every pregnant women around that time out of their homes and interrogated them. What made her more furious about all this was that if they found the mother of her captain's child, they were going to kill both her and the child. They were going to kill an innocent child who hasn't even took its first breath of life and a mother, even in her delicate condition, would do anything to protect her own child. Fortunately both mother and child were never found but still memories of that time still plagued her mind.

A soft sound was heard on a blanket besides her, she turned to see the reason why she was brought out of her thoughts. On the blanket was a little girl around the age of 4, napping peacefully besides Aiko. The little girl was her daughter, she had the same color hair, the same nose and lip of her mother but her skin tone and eye color were both from her father. Her eyes were like her mother's but when she glared at someone or something, it was clear who her father was.

Aiko didn't want her daughter growing up in this kind of world, a world where the government practices their sick way of justice. She had made a decision on what she was going to stop the government but she didn't like it. It meant being away from her family, not being there where her daughter grew up and not being near the man she loves. But this is what she had to do, this is what she wanted to do. Now all she had to do was discuss it with her husband.

She sighed "Now how do I go about talking about it?"

"Talking about what exactly?" A voice said

She jumped at the sudden voice, placing a hand in her beating heart as she look up at her husband. She glared at him "Damn it, Hawkeye! Don't scare me like that!"

"It's your own fault for on being aware of your surrounding. I've told you before that even here, far from the village, on an island such as this, you still need to be alert" Mihawk proclaimed

"I know..." She sighed "I'm sorry, I was thinking about...you know..."

He looked at Aiko for a moment and went to his daughter, gently picking her up so not to wake her and laid her comfortably in his arms and sat beside her. They sat in silence for a while before he asked "You're going, aren't you?"

She looked at her knees, not wanting to face him and nodded

"I see but you do realize what this means, right? You'll be labeled as one of the highest criminals in the world, you'll make powerful enemies and..."

"And I won't be able to see you or our daughter for...a very long time" She voiced sound horsed as she said that "This...wasn't an easy...b-but I-I can't let things go on like this!"

Tears started streaming down her face "I-It hurts knowing...I won't be there for her...but if it's to change the world for the better...I'll do it" More tears fell as she said last part softly "Even if you become my enemy"

He brought his hand up to her face and started to wipe the tears away "We both are willing to do things for her even if we are to be on different sides but no matter what, you will never be my enemy"

She was speechless, the way he was talking, he was really going to let her do this. More tears fall as she hugged him tightly burying her face in his chest as she sobbed. He held her close and patted her head. It hurt to know she wouldn't be there but as long as he knew what it was for, he could live with it.

She looked up from his chest and stared at their daughter, slowly bringing her hand up to her cheek and gently caressing it "I know you'll protect her, right?"

"No matter the cost" He replied without hesitation

Aiko sat up, wiping the tears from her eyes, her facial expression turned serious "I know where I need to go and I have to leave tonight..."

Mihawk felt a cringe in his heart but nodded _That soon..._

 _"_ But before I go, I need to give you something"

She got up from the porch and went inside the house with Mihawk following behind her. He stopped to lay his daughter in her bed to continue the rest of her nap and went into his and Aiko's bedroom. As he entered, he saw her pull apart the floorboard

"Aiko, what is the-"

He stopped when he sees her pulling out a hand size chest from underneath and walked up to her "What is this?"

She finishes the floor and stood up, looking at him "This here is something I thought I would giving away but..."

He looked at the chest in her hands and back at up "Explain"

Aiko went and sat on the edge of the bed and pat the spot to her. He sat next to her, when he did she started to explain the conversation she had with Gol D. Rogers the night of their celebration. As she finished explains she opened the chest and showed him "So that's how I got this"

Being the way he is, Mihawk face showed no change however his gold eyes widen in shock at the story. He stared at the fruit "I must say, this is quite interesting and I can see why he trusted you with it. Not just anyone can hide something like this from me"

She gave a little smirk "And yet I hid this since day one"

He gave her a smirk of own and nodded before looking at her with his usual frown "What is it you want me to do with it?"

Aiko pressed her lips together as she gripped to chest tightly and looked at him with a sad smile "If things go wrong in the future...if you are forced to make a difficult decision, I want you to make her eat this"

Now both Mihawk's face and eyes showed shock as he heard this "Aiko, do you know what you're asking of me?"

"Mihawk, I know you'll protect her and I trust you but things may not work out as you planned. So in case of that, you have to make her eat this"

"Even if what you say is so, you realize if the government ever found out..."

"I know...but I believe she'll be smart enough to know how she can trust and who she can't." She took a hold of his hand and squeezed it lightly "This is so she can protect herself, so please love if that time does come, will you please give this to her?"

He thought about this hard and after a minute looked at her "Very well, if needed I'll give her this"

She smiled softly and slowly brought him into her embrace "Thank you my love"

They stayed like that for what seemed like forever, only parting when they heard little foot steps coming toward their room. Aiko quickly hid the chest under the bed and sat up to see her daughter standing in front of the door, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes "Mama? Daddy?"

"Hey sleepy head, how are you? Did you have a good nap?" Aiko asked

The little girl nodded going over to her parents, tugging on her father's pants "Up, daddy"

He gave her a small smile and picked her up, sitting her on his lap

Aiko looked at her daughter's big gold eyes and tried not to chock up again. She didn't want her to see her crying but she was going to miss her so much. She took deep breaths and cleared her throat "Sweetie, there's something I have to tell you"

The little girl looked up at her "Yes, mama?"

"Mama has to go away for a while and until she comes back, daddy will take good care of you"

Her daughter's eyes widen in shock as tears started gathering in her eyes "Mama go bye bye?"

At times like these, Aiko wished her daughter couldn't understand her. "Not bye bye, just see you later"

The little girl was confused and looked to her daddy for an answer "Daddy?"

Said man patted her head in comfort "What it means is you will see her again one day, sweetheart. But the question is, can you be brave and wait until that day comes?"

She looked at her knees and thought about it. She didn't want her mama to leave but if it was like what her daddy does, then she could do it because she's brave when he goes "O-Ok"

Aiko smiled sadly and pulled her daughter in a big hug "Thank you sweetie, it means a lot"

Hours past and it was nighttime with the moon high in the sky, Aiko was standing in front of the door, wearing a black cloak covering her whole body with her backpack on her back underneath it. She pulled down the hood of her cloak and turned to her family. Mihawk was standing a few feet from her, holding their daughter. They both looked at her with their eyes saying different things. Mihawk's eyes showed worry but encouragement while their daughter's showed sadness but acceptance.

She walked to the two and held them both close, knowing it may be a long time before she could do this again. She leaned in, giving her husband a passionate kiss and smiled into it as he returned it. She parted from their kiss and caressed his cheek "I love you"

He leaned into her hand and give her a soft smile "As do I"

She turned her attention to her daughter and held her close, giving her pepper kisses which her to giggle little "Be very good for daddy, ok?"

"Ok, mama"

"And one more thing..."

The little girl looked at her

"Don't let anything get in the way of your dream, you got it?"

Her daughter's eyes widen in admiration and nodded quickly "Got it!"

Aiko gave her one last kiss on the cheek before giving her back to her father and turning toward the door

"See you later, mama! I love you!" She quickly said

Aiko froze, gripping the handle tightly trying not to cry. She turned to her daughter and gave her a bright smile "I love you too, Umiko. My little sea princess. See you later"

With that said, she disappeared into the night

* * *

 **Hey, everyone! I hope you like this prologue. New chapter is 14 years later, where Umiko meets the straw hats in Loguetown and reunites with a certain moss head! So stay tune! R & R please**!


	2. Escaping Loguetown, A new crew member!

14 years later...

Things do not turn out the way Zoro planned. All he wanted to do was buy two new swords since his olds ones were destroyed by Hawkeye Mihawk. But that simple task hadn't been easy since he arrived in Loguetown.

First he was looking at swords displayed in the windows, thinking how expensive they were and how he couldn't afford to ask Nami for anymore money since she was charging him 300% interest. Then when he was trying to return a young woman's named Tashigi's glasses, he accidentally crashed them because he was in shock due to her looking just like Kuina. Because of that, she dragged him all the way to the marine base station on the island, where she put him to work. A few marines officers recognize him as the pirate hunter and tried to arrest him but he knocked them out and took off.

Now he's walking down the streets again looking for a place that sells swords in his budget. As he searched, he thought about what just happened. _Man, that was just too weird. She looked just look Kuina, not to mention she was a swordsman of all things. What a crazy world, doubt I'll ever see her again..._

His pace slowed down a bit as he looks at the sky, his thoughts on another person from his past. _I wonder...this town is known as the town of beginning, in my beginning of being the best swordsman started with those two..._

He had a thoughtful look on his face. _If I saw someone how looked like Kuina here, will I see..._

He shakes his head. "I'm overthinking this, it would be way too weird if she was in this town too."

He sighed "And I don't have any proof that she's even here..." _But still I wonder how's she doing? I still remember the promise we made. I wonder, does she remember it too?_

* * *

He was brought out of his thoughts when he saw a person in a black cloak about to step out of the store he was about to walk by. He looks up to see it was a sword shop. "Great, this is just what I need"

As he and that person walked pass each other, a familiar scent caught his nose. It was scent that cheered him up, rooted for him, trained with him and comforted him. _This scent, it's sea breeze and water lilies..._

He looks back and sees the person was gone. He shakes his head again "No...it's just a coincidence"

After placing his news swords with his Wado Ichimonji, Zoro thanks the shop owner and turns to leave when he heard a large thud and turns again to see that the shop owner's wife had whacked him so hard he fell to the floor.

"I can't believe you!" She expresses angrily "First, you couldn't get that girl to sell her swords to us, then you offer her a free polishes for her swords and now this! How are we suppose to make money for you keep giving our stuff away for free?!"

The shop owner turned to her, determined "I couldn't help it, she was a true swordsman just like this on! She was the only one besides him to figure out that the Sandai Kitetsu was cursed!"

Zoro turns to Tashigi, who was on the floor recovering for the scare he gave her from testing the cursed sword "Is he talking about you?"

"I don't think so. I only came here with my Shigure" she replies

"I'm not talking about her!" The owner says when he over heard them

They turn to him as he speaks "A young woman in a black cloak came into this shop before you came" He points to Zoro "She came in here with two twin katanas from the O Wazamono collection!"

Tashigi eyes sparkles as she quickly gets up and rush to the owner "Really?! Those swords were here?"

Zoro didn't want to hear them rant on, he tries to leave again when the owner said something that caught his attention

"Yes, I couldn't believe it either! Blades that have been blessed by the Gods themselves came here!"

A memory flashes before Zoro

* * *

 **Flashback**

 **A young girl stood in front of him, showing him katanas she held out "These twin blades were a gift from my papa. It's said that these two have been blessed by the Gods of the Sun and Moon."**

 **She holds up the katana with a silver hilt "This one is called Shōmei Mūn."**

 **The next one she held up had a gold hilt "And this one is called Kagayaku Taiyō"**

 **Flashback ends**

* * *

Zoro's eyes widen, _Is she really...?!_ He goes up to the owner and stares down at him "Old man, those blades that girl brought in to polish, what are their names?"

The owner folds his arms, thinking "Well I know one is called Mūn something and the other is called Taiyō something."

"You mean to tell me you got all excited over those blades and you don't know their names?!" He snaps

"Hey, cut me a break! After all the excitement from you and her, the names slipped my mind" The owner snaps back, then sighs "I'm sure once I've calmed down and have a bottle of sake, I'll remember"

Zoro growls angrily, his hands ready to strangle the man when Tashigi steps in "Sir, are you really sure their from the O Wazamono collection?"

"Yes, 100% percent sure!" He nods with confidence

"And were the hilts of the swords look like they were made out of gold and silver?"

"Yes, very much so!"

Tashigi squeals in excitement "Then they were really here, the Shōmei Mūn and Kagayaku Taiyō!"

Zoro's eyes went wide again as a smile came to his face. _S-She's really here..._

"Old man, when was she here and do you know where she was heading?" He asks

"Well, she didn't leave that long ago, in fact she walked out the door the same time you walked it"

Zoro face palms himself, _No wonder that scent was so familiar! Damnit she was right under my nose too!_

"Now as to where she was going, she said that she was going to look around town and leave tomorrow"

 _That means I only have today to find her!_ "Thanks" He says before rushing the shop

 _If she left when that old man said she did, she couldn't have gotten far..._

* * *

Zoro sends an hour searching but still no progress, so he decides to rest on some stone steps for a few minutes before starting his search again. He takes his Sandai Kitetsu out of his sheath and examines it "So she felt you were cursed to huh?"

"Hey, Zoro!"

Luffy's face pops out of nowhere causes him to jump a little from his step while still maintaining a firm grip on the sword.

"That's a cool new sword!" Luffy says after getting a good look at it "So what are you doing sitting around here?"

Zoro scowls, putting the sword back in it's sheath "I've been searching for someone for an hour but got tired, so I'm resting. What exactly are you doing here?"

Luffy stands up, hands on his hips looking proud says "Yeah...I'm totally lost"

Zoro sweatdrops "That's not something you brag about"

"Wait, you said you were looking for someone?"

"Yeah, that's right"

"Is it Nami?"

"No" Zoro deadpans

"Usopp?"

"No..." He sighs

"Oh, I know you're looking for Sanji!" Luffy grins thinking he answered correctly

"Hell no!" Zoro snaps, whacking his captain in the head "I'm not looking for any of them!"

Luffy looks at him, nursing the bump on his head "But that's our whole crew"

He sighs, rubbing his temple to sooth an oncoming headache "It's not anyone on our crew, this person is a very good friend of mine in the past"

Luffy's eyes widen "Really? Someone from your past?! Who is it?! Where are they?!"

Before Zoro could answer, two loud growls were heard. Both men looked down at each other's stomachs "Man, I'm so hungry. Hey, let's get something to eat and you can tell me all about this guy!" Luffy says holding his stomach

So they find a nearby restaurant, got a table and were on waiting for their meals

"Ok, so who is this guy?" Luffy asks leaning forward excitedly, hoping to know about Zoro's past a bit

"Well for starters, it's not a guy I'm looking for. She's a girl."

"Oh, so how do you know she's in this town?"

"The owner of the shop where I got my new swords told me about her, so I've been searching since"

Luffy leans back in his seat "Is she a swordsman like you?"

He nods "Yeah, she uses two sword style. Ever since we met, we've helped each other improve on our skills"

He chuckles "Back then, I couldn't even beat her. Our fights ended in either a draw or her beating me. She was the second person I aimed to beat at the time"

"Wow, so you're looking to catch up and have a rematch?"

Zoro shakes his head "We made a promise to each other"

* * *

 **Flashback**

 **A fourteen year old Zoro rushed to the cliff outside of his village with his swords at his waist. As the cliff was in his view, a young girl with royal blue hair was standing on the edge with a backpack in her hand and her swords strapped to each side of her waist.**

 **"Umiko!" He called**

 **Umiko turned to him, her golden eyes widen in joy "Zoro!"**

 **She dropped her bag and rushed to him, pulling him into a hug "I'm so happy you came!"**

 **He held her close, then pulled away to look at her "What's going on, Umiko? Why are you leaving all of a sudden?"**

 **She looked down at her feet "I-I'm sorry but I have no choice"**

 **"Why don't you have a choice? Did something happen?"**

 **She bit her lip, looking nervous "I've been...hiding from...the marines"**

 **Zoro eyes widen in shock and his body tensed "W-What?"**

 **She shook her head quickly "It's not for something I did! It's for something else!"**

 **His body relaxed a bit "Why are you hiding from them?"**

 **She pulled away from them and walked to the edge of the cliff "My father found out that rumors were being spread around the government about him"**

 **"What kind of rumors?"**

 **"Rumors that he had a daughter and she was currently living where he had called home. My father is a very powerful man and he thought that if the marines found out about me that they use me as leverage. That they can use him by threating me."**

 **Zoro looked at her and put a protective arm around her shoulders, growling.** ** _What kind of bastards would do something like that?! Using her to get her father to do what they want!_**

 **"At start he didn't think much about it. He thought that these rumors would just die out"**

 **She looked out at the sea and softly said "But he was wrong. My father told me that the marines came to our home one day, stating they wanted to see for the rumors were true. Luckily that day, I wasn't home, I was practicing in the far part of the forest that day. After what happened, he knew he couldn't keep me close, so he arranged for me to be taken to this village, hoping the marines wouldn't find me."**

 **His grip tightened on her shoulders "But they did, didn't they?"**

 **"Somehow they were able to track the movements of the ship that sent me here years ago. They've been to the islands that the ship has docked and now they'll be at this one soon" She replied**

 **"Then I'll make sure safe! Stay and I'll protect you!"**

 **She leaned into him, blushing "That's very sweet and very brave..." She shook her head "But I can't let you get involved."**

 **He knew by the tone of her voice that she had made up her mind "You really have to go, don't ya?" Zoro asked softly**

 **She nodded slowly, her body trembling from holding back her tears**

 **Zoro clutched his teeth and turned her around to face, both his hands griping her shoulders "But why?! Who is your father?! Is he really that powerful for them to feel threatened?!"**

 **Umiko looked at him pledging, her eyes shining with tears as she gripped the front of his shirt "I...I can't...please I-I'm not ready t-to...tell you" She leaned into him, resting her head on his chest, trembling from her sobs "Please u-understand"**

 **Zoro looks down at her trembling figure and sighed, he sees she still wasn't ready to tell him about her past. He have asked her about her parents before many times but she was only willing to talk about her mother but not her father. Maybe what happened between him and her was still fresh to her or something.**

 **He sighed, wrapping his arms around her, hugging her tightly "Ok, I won't ask you again. But I hope you tell me one day"**

 **She nodded her head into his chest and sighed in relief "T-Thank you for understanding. I will tell you...someday"**

 **Umiko lead him to the shore where a boat was there, ready to sail. She put her bag in the boat and turned to him. She didn't say anything but Zoro didn't need her to, her eyes said it all. She was going to miss him so much and he felt the same way. He was going to miss training with her, talking to her, and just her being there.** ** _First Kuina dies and now..._**

 **"I don't want this to be goodbye..." Umiko said**

 **Zoro looked at her, confused "What do you mean?"**

 **"I mean this won't be the last time we see each other, so we shouldn't say goodbye, just say see you later" She said with soft smile.**

 **Zoro blushed when he saw her smile but nodded, returning the smile "Yeah, you're right. This isn't goodbye because that means we can't make this promise."**

 **"What promise?" She asked confused**

 **"Umiko, you're my best friend. You and I both have dreams that we want to come true but I want you by my side when I achieve my dream..."**

 **She blushed at that as he continued "So let's promise that the next time we meet, we'll travel towards our dreams together"**

 **Umiko's eyes widen in shock but soon turned to joy as she smiled brightly at him "Yeah! It's a promise!"**

 **Flashback ends**

* * *

Zoro smiles at the memory, looking up at his captain who was bloated like a balloon from all the food he ate "So that's our promise"

"Man, am I stuffed!" Luffy grins patting his stomach then looks at Zoro with a bigger grin

"Well if that's the way it is, it's only makes sense for this Umiko girl to join my crew!"

Zoro eyes widen in disbelief then gives his captain the big grin which surprised him "Thank you, captain!"

"Uh...your welcome" _Wow, he really looks happy after I said that_

Zoro leans back on his chair taking another sip of sake "Now I just have to find her..."

 _Where are you, Umi?_

* * *

Said girl was walking down one of the streets, continuing to explore the town. She keep the hood of the cloak on her head to hid her face. She had seen some interesting characters today. First she went shopping for some new clothing and saw a orange hair girl about the same age as her trying on different outfits, putting on a mini fashion show. She liked the clothes but wave to the owner goodbye telling him it was too expensive for her. Then she saw a guy with a long nose, wearing brown overalls and a yellow bandanna on his head, carrying a huge bag of things he thinks will help him on the grand line. Last one was a guy in a suit with blonde hair who was cooking up a storm in the cooking competition she went to see _._

 _"_ My, this town really is something. The people here are so interesting" Umiko says with a smile hoping to see more of the town.

Then she stops as she felt something in the air and looks to the direction of the harbor "Wow, a really big storm is coming from the east. Maybe I should go make sure my boat is well secured, so it doesn't wash away"

Just when she is about to make her way to the harbor, a few guys ran pass her away from the town square and some made their way towards it.

"Run for your lives, it's Buggy the Clown!" One of the men running away said

"Time for the execution, Buggy the clown is going to kill Straw Hat Luffy!" Other man running to the square said

 _Straw Hat Luffy?_ She recall seeing his wanted poster on one of the bulletin boards in the town. The first thing that caught her eye was the straw hat on his head. It looked just like her uncle Shanks' hat. The other thing to catch her attention was that grin on his face. He looked like a nice guy who was just having fun, someone like that shouldn't be killed. _So this is who he kept talking about..._

She made her decision and starts running, making her way to the execution platform "I hope I make it in time"

It only could her a few minutes to get to the square, there was a large crowd waiting to see the execution. She politely made her way to the first of the crowd.

When she got to the first, she could hear what Buggy was saying to Luffy "You've got quite a big audience here today, Straw Hat. You want to say a few words before you die?"

When Luffy didn't answer, Buggy continue to mock him "Oh, what's the matter? Cat got your tongue? That's alright stay quiet or say a few word, it doesn't matter! You're still gotta die!"

 _I have to do something!_ Before Umiko made a move, she heard Luffy shout.

"LISTEN! I'M THE MAN WHO'LL BE KING OF THE PIRATES!" He says with so much confidence and determination in his voice

Umiko's eyes widen at the statement. She was in awe that his proclamation and couldn't help but smile "He is the most interesting one of all"

"We're finally getting to the best part of the show" She heard Buggy say and looks up to see Luffy struggling to get off the platform. Buggy smirks "Bye-Bye now"

 _No you don't!_ Umiko starts making her way to the platform

"Stop the execution!" A voice from the crowd says

She stops and turns to the direction of the voice. _That voice sounds so familiar..._

"Now!" The same voice along with an unfamiliar one demands

She tries to see who it was but the crowd blocked her view

Luffy looks in the direction and smiles "Sanji! Zoro!"

Umiko felt her heart skip a beat at the last name "I-It can't be..."

Zoro smirks, griping his Wado Ichimonji "Luffy, you idiot. Guess that fooling around finally caught up with ya, huh?"

Sanji looks up at Buggy "You starting a side show or is that just how you look? Pretty sad, now what we gotta do is drive these goons away"

Umiko heard a man yell "No, it's Pirate Hunter Zoro!"

People in the heard screams and scatter in different direction which gave her a perfect view of the two men. Her heartbeat increases as she looks at the man to the left. He was wearing a black bandana on his head but she could see the green hair poking under it. She notices the tan skin, the green bell warmer she made for him when they were younger but what caught her attention was the katana that once belonged to their late friend.

From under her cloak, tears gather in her eyes "It really is him...Zoro..." She whispers

"Hey, guys!" Luffy calls out to them

Buggy looks down at them and smirks at Zoro "You made it Zoro but you're just a little bit too late!" He says raising his blade to decapitate Luffy.

Zoro and Sanji's eyes widen "We gotta bring down the platform!" Zoro says

"Excuse me..." Umiko says a loud causing everyone left in the square to look at her

 _That's a black cloak! Is it..._ Zoro shakes his head. _Wait don't jump to conclusions just yet._

Buggy looks down at her "Hey kid, are you talking to me?"

She nods, keeping her face under her hood "Yes, I am. Look I'm sure there's another way to do things. You don't have to kill him"

"Run along and stay out of this! You don't know what's going on between me and him!"

"Maybe so but is what he did really that bad for you to have to kill him?"

"Of course it is!" Buggy shouts "This brat disrespected and humiliated me, The a Great Captain Buggy, and he'll pay with his life!"

She looks at him, unimpressed "In other words, he deflated your ego, right?"

Buggy's crew jaws drop at that remark while their captain glares down at her "I'm warning you kid, you better run back to where you came from before I make you pay from that remark."

She shakes her head "I'm not going anywhere, you see that guy you're trying to kill is very interesting and I can tell he has a strong spirit. I can't let you kill him. So can we please just talk this over or are things going to get messy?"

He taps his finger on his cheek, pretending to think "Well let me see, I think...YOUR BIG MOUTH JUST COST YOU YOUR LIFE! GET HIM BOYS!"

Three of his crew mate went charging at her. They all raise their swords ready to kill her but in that moment, she was behind them. A second passed before they went crumbling to the ground, losing consciousness.

Everyone's eyes widen at this as she moves her cloak to show her twin katanas, the silver one unsheathed "I was afraid you'd want things to get messy"

"Wow! That was so cool, I didn't even see you move!" Luffy says grinning down at her

Zoro's eyes widen at the sight of the silver hilt and a smile crosses his face. _It is her!_

Buggy recovers from the shock and points his finger at her, shouting "I get it, you're one of his crew members, aren't you?! Well now I really can't let you live! Get him and the other two!"

The rest of his men cheers and starts charging at them

"What the hell?! Who is that guy and why is he trying to save Luffy too?!" Sanji says confused about what just happened

"Trust me, this person is on our side. We gotta help, come on!" Zoro says already running to her with Sanji right behind him.

Umiko was already dodging and slashing away that them. Zoro and Sanji came into her view and starts fighting along side her. Zoro slashes the two pirates trying to sneak up behind her, then stood with her, their backs to each other.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" He says with a smirk

Under her hood, she smiles "Let's have our reunion after we save your captain"

"Actually..." He takes down another goon "Our captain"

"Wait, wh-"

"Sanji, Zoro, Usopp, Nami..." Luffy's voice cut her off.

Zoro, Sanji and Umiko looks at him and sees him grinning down at them "Sorry, but I'm dead"

 _Damnit!_ Zoro cursed

 _Don't say that!_ Sanji thought

 _No!_ Umiko internally screams

Before Buggy could go for the kill, lightening strikes the top of the platform causing it to catch fire and tumble to the ground. Rain starts to fall from the sky and the crowd gathered around the fallen platform and sees a straw hat falling from the sky. When it landed on the ground, Luffy picks it up and places it back on his head, grinning. He was ok with only a few burns while Buggy was on the ground, unconscious and had much worse burns than him.

Luffy laughs "I'm still alive, that's nice!"

Umiko places a hand on her heart, trying to calm her racing heart "My god, that scared me to death!"

"I'll say..." Sanji agrees "It was like divine intervention"

"I agree with you on that"

"Enough with that nonsense!" Zoro orders

"Don't give me orders, you bastard!" Sanji snaps, then turns to Umiko "Anyway, thanks for your help but who the hell are you?"

"Introductions can wait for later" Zoro says as their captain approach them "Right now, we have to get out of this town. Our troubles are not over."

Suddenly marines from all corners of the square came charging.

"Here they come!" Sanji says

Zoro pulls Umiko close and whispers in her ear "Do you have your stuff with you?"

She blushes as his breath tickles her ear "Y-Yeah, but I have a few more things on my boat. Hopefully the storm haven't wash it out to sea yet."

"Go and we'll meet you at the harbor"

She looks at him, unsure "B-But the marines..."

He smirks "We can handle a few marines, just get your things and met us at the Going Merry"

"Going Merry?"

"That's our ship, trust me you'll know it when you see it"

She nods, moving away from him. Before she makes herself a path through the marines, she turns back to him and says "See you in a few minutes"

He smiles "Definitely!"

He charges at the marines with Luffy and Sanji while Umiko charges, making her way through the marines.

* * *

She arrives at the harbor after a few minutes of fighting and dodging away from the marines. She spots her boat, which was a dingy, being searched by a few marines.

"What the...Excuse me! What the hell do you think you're doing?" She shouts, making her way to her boat

One of the marines stops her from coming close "Hold it, we are under orders to search and burn down every pirate ship we see"

Umiko crosses her arms "You think my boat is a pirate ship?"

"You can never be too safe. Which rises the question..." He points his gun at her "Are you a pirate?"

She sighs, people have been mistaking her for a guy all day, except for the owner of the sword shop and Zoro. She really didn't mind, it meant that this cloak is really working, but still it was rude to point a gun at people.

"A pirate?" She thought about for a moment, recalling Zoro saying that Luffy was her captain too. She still haven't decided but says "Maybe I am"

"Then you're under arrest!" Before he could do anything, Umiko quickly knocks the gun out of his hand and strikes him in the neck with the hilt of her sword, knocking him out.

The other marines saw this and were about to raise their guns when the snout of the guns were sliced clean off. They look at her and sees her golden hilt sword in her hand.

"I try to avoid fights but I will defend myself if you raise a hand to me." She points to tip of her sword to one of the marines, glaring at them "Now please leave or else and leave all my things where you found them"

Terrified by her glare, they did what she said, grab their fallen comrade and took off running.

She sighs in relief, gathering the rest of her stuff "Thank goodness, I may not like the marines but I don't want to hurt them". After checking to see that she had everything, she quickly makes her down the harbor, looking for the Going Merry.

"He said I would know it when I see it..."

Then out in the water, she sees a ship with a ram figure head on the front with a flag with a skull wearing a straw hat. "That must be it!"

With her excellent vision given to her by her father, she could see someone on the ship "It's that girl I saw in the clothing ship, if she's on the ship, that must mean she's part of his crew too."

However Umiko could only see Nami and not the others "Where are they?! How are they going to get to the ship?!"

She thought about it and an idea comes to her head. _M-Maybe I could...but if they see, can I trust them? I mean I never even told Zoro and he's my best friend..._

Suddenly a large blast of wind came rushing through the town and harbor, blowing everything away. Umiko grabs one of the poles and holds on tight, making sure she and her things didn't blow away. After a few seconds the wind stop and she lets go of the pole and looks at the damage _._ She sees a familiar head of green hair getting up and runs over.

"Zoro!"

He, Luffy, Usopp and Sanji sees her coming towards them. Usopp were confused, Sanji was wondering why this stranger was following them. Luffy looks at her for a moment, then lurns to Zoro, seeing a smile on his face "Hey Zoro, is that..."

"Yeah, it is" He says as he walks up to her "So, you got everything?"

She nods "Yeah!"

Luffy walks up to her and grins "Welcome to my crew!"

"Um, thank you, I-"

"What is this?!" Usopp yells cutting her out.

Everyone looks at him "Why the hell are you inviting this guy, this stranger to join our crew?!" He shrieks

Sanji takes a drag of his cigarette "Relax, this guy seems to know Zoro and helped us get Luffy back. But I got to agreed with Usopp, you can't just invite people without asking us first."

Luffy pouts a bit "But I'm the captain, beside this is Zoro's best friend..."

"I hate to interrupt..."

They both turn to Umiko "But your ship is sailing away"

Everyone look out at sea and see that she was right. They could even hear Nami screaming for them.

"HELP! LUFFY!"

"Nami!" Luffy calls to her

"We gonna go! The ship will be gone soon!" Sanji says urgently

Sanji, Zoro, Usopp and Umiko ran in one direction but Luffy ran in the other. Umiko caught this and stops "Luffy, where are you going?!"

The others stops too and sees him running to a staircase and grabbing onto the rail.

"Now, Gum Gum..."

"What?!" Usopp shouts

"No, he can't!" Sanji says with a nervous look

"He can stretch?! What's he going to do?!" Umiko says in a panic

"I think I know..." Zoro says, wrapping an arm around her "And I'm not gonna like it. Hold on to me!"

"ROCKET!" Luffy fires himself at them sending them flying to the ship.

Zoro holds Umiko close to him as they flew through the air. They all hit the sails of the ship and fell to the floor. Umiko's fall was broken by Zoro's chest. "T-Thank you"

"No problem.." He says grunting in pain

Nami looks down at them, smiling in relief "You're here!"

Usopp shakes his head to get rid of his dizziness "Ok, now that we're safe, you mind telling us who the hell is this guy?" He demands pointing his finger at Umiko

"We'll get our answers, let's all go inside the kitchen and warm up with some hot chocolate" Sanji says making his way to the kitchen.

"Yay! Hot chocolate!" Luffy cheers following him inside. Usopp and Nami, who finally noticed Umiko, follows looking at her cautiously. Zoro helps her with her stuff and leads her inside. When inside, Sanji stands by the oven making the chocolate, Luffy, Nami and Usopp sits around the table, Luffy with a friendly smile, Nami and Usopp with nervous and scared frowns. Zoro was leaning on the wall next to her as she stood in front of the table.

"Hey Sanji, can I have marshmallows in my chocolate?" Luffy asks

"The marshmallows are only for Nami!" Sanji snaps, then his eyes turns to hearts as he looks at her "Nami, would you like marshmallows in your chocolate?"

"Yeah, sure" she says not taking her eyes off the new person

A few moments of silence passes before Usopp gets up, pointing his finger at her, trying to look brave but failing "J-Just so you know, I-I'm the Great Captain Usopp, Brave Warrior of the Sea and I have e-eight thousand men at my disposal. S-So don't try anything"

Umiko knew that was a lie but nods anyway. She looks around and sees a coat racket in the kitchen "Pardon me for a moment..."

Everyone looks as she walks over to racket, as she takes off the cloak Zoro's eyes widen while Sanji's turns into hearts at the sight. Umiko removes her cloak revealing her long, beautiful and silky Royal blue hair that reaches the middle of her back. Her skin was soft and flawless and her golden eyes showed much kindness in them. She was at least two inches taller than Nami and had the glass hour figure most women wanted. Also her chest was at least one letter more than Nami's. She was wearing a pink button down sweater above her white short sleeve blouse with a blue jeans and black boots, her swords were strapped to each side of her hip. Overall, Umiko was a beautiful girl.

 _T-That's Umiko..._ Zoro was stunned when he sees her, he admits when they were kids she was cute but now...He was trying his best to fight down a blush

She blushes a little as everyone was staring at her, not use to being the center of attention "W-Well introductions are in order. H-Hello everyone I'm-" She stops when a blue rose was presented in front of her courtesy of Sanji.

"Oh angel of beauty, thank you so much for blessing me with your presents! I know I have no right to look at you for I have so wrong to mistake for a man. But please won't you tell me your name?!" Sanji says kneeing in front of her

"I-It's Umiko" She answers feeling both flattered and uncomfortable

"What a beautiful name for a beautiful woman! I'm Sanji and-" Before he could say more, Zoro steps in front of her, looking pissed and kicks him away "Quit flirting you damn love cook! And go back to your oven!"

"What did you say, you bastard?! Don't go ordering me around like that!" Sanji snaps

Before they could start a fight, Nami comes in and whacks both of them on the head "Knock it off you two!"

She looks at Umiko and decides to give her a chance. After looking in her eyes, she could tell she won't hurt them "Take a seat and introduce yourself, ok?"

Umiko nods and seats at the table next to Luffy "W-Well like I said, my name is Umiko and I'm a childhood friend of Zoro's..."

"How can that damn bastard be friends with such a beautiful girl?" Sanji mutters

"What was that?!" Zoro snaps

"I said Knock it off!" Nami snaps at them before turning back to her "Go on"

So Umiko goes on to tell them about herself, where she came from, and her swordsmanship. She was so comfortable, she even talked about her mother, though there was no much to tell since she couldn't remember that about her. And about her problem. Nami was about to ask about her father when she looks behind Umiko and sees Zoro shaking his head. That was a sensitive topic.

"So, you're on the run from the marines because they want to hold you hostage?!" Usopp shrieks

She nods "Yes, since my father is a powerful man, they figured they would use me to get him to do whatever they want."

Sanji was fuming "How dare they try to use an angel for such an evil deed?! Don't worry my dear Umiko, I'll protect you!"

"She needs protection from you" Zoro mutters

"Do the marines know what you look like?" Nami asks

She shakes her head "No but some marines may make the connection that I'm his daughter just by looking at me. So I keep my face hidden"

Nami was impressed "That's actually makes sense"

"Hey, Umi! What's your dream?!" Luffy asks

"My dream?"

"Yeah, everyone here has a dream waiting for them on the grand line! Like me, I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" He says with the confidence he had on the platform

She looks bit hesitant of saying her dream. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looks up to see Zoro giving a look of encouragement. She smiles and turns to the other "Well, I want to find Araumi!"

"Araumi? Is it something I can eat?!" He asks drooling

She sweatdrops while Usopp smacks him upside his head "Why is it alway food with you?!" He snaps

"Araumi is one of the Supreme Grade Swords that exist in the world. In fact, it was the first one of it's class made however it hasn't been claimed for centuries. They say it's in a well hidden temple that lays under the waters in the grand line. My dream is to be the owner of this sword."

She sighs "People say that's it's a myth, that there are only 12 supreme swords but I know it's real!"

Luffy's eyes were hidden under his hat, he knows how she feels. Some people think that the one piece doesn't exist but he still wanted to go out to sea and find it.

Umiko thought she said something wrong as she saw the captain grew silent "U-Um Luffy..."

He flashes her a big grin "Well now I've totally decided! You're joining my crew!"

"W-Well..."

He starts to pout "You don't want to?"

"I-It's not that but..."

Zoro says what she was thinking "The marines?"

She nods "I've been hiding for so long...I don't want to cause trouble for you guys"

"Aw don't worry, you don't have to hide your face. Cause if the marines come, we'll just kick their asses, right guys?!"

"Hell yeah!" Sanji cheers "Just let them come, I'll send them flying!"

"Don't worry, Captain Usopp will make sure you're safe!"

"It'll be nice to have another girl around, so count me in!" Nami smiles

Zoro puts on arm around her shoulders "I won't let you go through this alone anymore..."

Umiko blushes "Zoro..."

He smirks "Besides we made a promise, didn't we?"

Tears of happiness pricks her eyes as she smiles "Y-Yeah! I accept!"

"Yahoo! We've got a new member!" Luffy cheers jumping for joy

"Umiko!" Sanji cheers with hearts in his eyes, then glares when he sees Zoro's arm wrapped around her "Get away from her, you bastard!" He snaps kicking him away from her

"Damn cook!"

Umiko watches the fight in concern and turns to Nami "Shouldn't we do something?"

"They do this all the time, you'll get use to it. I'm Nami by the way" She smiles

"Nice to meet you"

"Welcome aboard! I'm Captain Usopp! " Usopp proclaims

She knew he wasn't the captain but smiles "Thank you!"

Nami looks outside, when she sees a light, she races outside "Hey guys look!"

Everyone came out and looks to the distance and sees a light shining from a lighthouse

Nami grins at everyone "That lighthouse is a guide and just ahead is the entrance to the Grand Line!"

"Alright, let's go!" Luffy cheers

Usopp, who was holding onto the mast, turns his head to him "Are we really going in the middle of the freakin storm?!"

"Hey, we should commemorate this" Sanji suggests

"Yeah!" Luffy agrees

"Let's do it!" Nami says

Five of the the six stood in front of the barrel, ready to commemorate the occasion. They all look at Umiko, who stood a distane from them.

"Hey Umi, where are you doing way over there? Come on!" Luffy says waving her over

She looked surprised "B-But I just joined..."

Zoro walks over, taking her hand and bring her over "It doesn't matter, you're part of the crew now. That means you do this too"

The other show their agreement with nods making her smile "O-Ok!"

Sanji went first laying his foot on top of the barrel "I'm going to the Grand Line to find the All Blue!"

Luffy was next "I'm going to be King of the Pirates!"

"The world's best swordsman!" Zoro says after

"I'm going to draw a map of the world!" Nami follows

"I'm going to find the Araumi!" Umiko says

Usopp hesitates a bit before speaking "I guess I going...to be a brave warrior of the sea"

"ALRIGHT! TO THE GRAND LINE!" Luffy yells

Everyone cheers, smashing the barrel "YEAH!"


	3. The entrance to Grand Line!

While on their way to the entrance of the grand line, Nami and Umiko are on the deck of the ship, having a conversation.

"So, how long have you been traveling the east blue alone?" Nami asks while looking at her map.

"It's been five years since I left my village. Though technically I haven't been traveling alone since then."

"Really? You've traveled with others?"

Umiko nods "Yeah, during these past five years, I've met and traveled with two guys, separately for almost a year each. One is from the East blue and the other is from the north blue."

Nami takes her eyes off the map and looks at her "From the north blue?!"

"He wanted to see what it was like in this sea. I met him about five months after parting with the other one."

She became curious "What are they like?"

Umiko smiles as she explains "They're both very interesting people. The first one is from the East blue, like all of you. He's so sweet and so polite, you can count on him when things get tough. Though he tends to fall asleep at random times. While the other one from the north blue is well...he's very unique. He can be brutal and a bit of a sadist but there are times he can be really kind and sweet. He might not look it but he's dependable and his medical skills are...also unique but amazing!"

 _She seems to have had great guys traveling with her, I kinda wanna meet them now._ Nami leans closer to her and smirks "Are they cute?"

Umiko blushes up at her ears, stuttering "W-W-Why do y-you want to k-know that?!"

"Oh come on, they sound great, I figure they have to be good looking too, am I wrong?" She teases, nudging her shoulder.

At that point, Umiko's face resemble a tomato "...T-They are r-really h-handsome"

Nami giggles "Well you're so lucky! You got to travel with cute guys, I don't have that luxury."

"I...I wouldn't say that, Nami. T-There are some very handsome guys on this ship too."

Her eyes drafts to a certain green-haired man in the crow's nest. She didn't notice the smirk on Nami's face getting bigger as she notice who Umiko was looking at.

 _Traveling with her is going to be fun..._ "So what are their names?"

Umiko looks back at her "Oh their names are-"

"Nami, my sweet!" The girls look up at Sanji, who is in the crow's nest with Zoro, holding binoculars "I have a report, major cloud cover ahead! Big rain clouds, there's a storm coming!"

"Which means we're getting closer to the entrance!" Umiko happily exclaims

Nami looks at her, confused "It does?"

She nods "You see, whenever people are entering or exiting the grand line, there is alway powerful storms waiting for them. Just like that one waiting for us."

Nami turns back to the map "If that's true, then we should be spotting the red line anytime now"

Then she notices the way the map is drawn. _Is the path to the grand line really as perilous as it's drawn here?_ "Umiko, call the guys down and tell them to come to the kitchen."

Umiko just stood there with her arms crossed, tapping her foot waiting for a certain word.

It takes a minute for Nami to realize "Oh, please get the boys?"

She unfolds her arms and nods "Good, I'll be happy to."

 _She may look sweet and harmless but she gives off a vibe telling me not to order her around. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Afterall she is Zoro's friend._ Nami thought going into the kitchen, then shrugs her shoulder. _I can deal with that, at least I get to order the boys around._

Zoro, Sanji and Luffy, who went up there excited to hear they were almost near the grand line and slaps their backs hard over and over again, were duking it out.

"Zoro!"

He stops fighting and quickly pushes the other two off him and looks down at Umiko, who was smiling up at him. He couldn't help but smile back "Hey Umi, you need something?"

"Nami wants all of us to meet inside the kitchen for a meeting, could you, Sanji and Luffy come down, please?"

Before he could reply, Sanji pushes him out the way and goofily smiles down at her "Did you say you need me, my lovely sea angel?!"

She sweatdrops "Actually, I need all of you down here."

Zoro angrily pushes him out the way "She was talking to me, you damn cook!" He snaps

Sanji butt heads with him "You'd probably say something stupid, like you alway do! So back off, moss head!"

"Um...boys, Nami is waiting." She points out

Everyone, but Usopp who was keeping the rudder steady, sat at the table. Umiko and Zoro was on one side, Luffy was on the other, Sanji was standing at the end and Nami was standing at the front of the table, all eyes were on her.

She spreads the map on the table "Take a look, I'm familiar with the rumors and this map confirms it! As unimaginable as it may seem, the entrance to the grand line is a mountain."

Luffy tilt his head "A mountain?"

"So what, do you want to crash into it?" Zoro asks

"You got to be kidding" Sanji said

"I didn't believe it but the maps clear. The mountain seems to be riddle with small canals, so we might have to go up and over it" Nami explains

Luffy grins "Oh, sounds like fun!"

"What are you talking about? Even if there are canals, a ship can't climb up a mountain" Zoro scoffs

"Exactly, but on this mountain it can"

All eyes turns to Umiko

"It can?" He asks

She nods "It's called Reverse Mountain for a reason. The canals and currents work differently there"

Nami looks over the map and sees it. "She's right! Take a look, these greens lines represent canals or artificial water ways. If major currents from all four oceans flow towards the mountain, what do you thinks gonna happen? The currents would force water up these canals, collect at the top and then flow straight down into the grand line"

Umiko sits up, leans on the table and points to the mountain "But since Reverse Mountain is a winter mountain, that's means the currents would be forced down, which includes anything riding in them. And you know what that means?"

"It means if we screw up and miss the entrance to the canal, the Going Merry will be carried into the red lines rock face and likely be destroyed" Nami explains

"Meaning the ship and crew will be sucked to the bottom of the sea" Umiko adds

"Exactly!" Nami happily says, feeling glad to have someone understands what she's saying "Umiko gets the idea, so do the rest of you understand?"

"Yeah..." Luffy says slowly and then concludes "Basically it's a mystery mountain"

She sighs "That's not the point, since we're positioned on this current, we shouldn't run into any problems getting to the summit of Reverse Mountain. Only thing that we hurt us now is if something went wrong with the rudder."

As Sanji was complementing Nami, Umiko hears grunting, looks in the direction of the sound and sees Usopp struggling with the rudder ' _She just had to say that_.'

"Call me skeptical but ships do not climb mountains" Zoro says unconvinced

"Well, I have heard a few stories..." Sanji starts to say

"Stories about the mystery mountain?" Luffy cuts in

"No, what I have heard is that most than half the people who try to the grand line die before they get there. Whatever we find, it isn't going to be easy"

The storms arrives, the rain and wind begins to pick up a bit. Nami sees this and looks at Sanji "Hey Sanji, could you get the sail?"

"Anything for you, Nami!" Sanji happily says

"Luffy, help me!" He barks

"Yeah..."

As he finish folding the sails the sail, he looks up and sees the red walls and shouts "Hey I can see the mystery mountain!"

Everyone runs out and sees an enormous mountain in front of them. Usopp's jaw drops at the sight of it.

"T-That's insanely huge!" He exclaims

"Wow, the entrance to the grand line" Nami says in awe

Looking at the mountain, memories appeared in her mind, from when she lived with her father to when her godfather took her away from her home and crossing the red line.

Umiko bit her bottom lip. _'Daddy...'_

 _S_ he was pulled out of her memories when a hand came onto her shoulder. She turns and sees it belongs to Zoro. "Hey, you ok? You're looking into space"

"O-Oh, I'm fi-"

Before she could finish, the ship starts to rocking back and fourth violently causing Zoro to hold onto the rails with one arm and Umiko with the other arm, trying to keep both of them balanced. She held onto him, blushing at how close they are. She could feel how muscular he was through his clothes. _H-He really has changed since the last time I saw him._

"We're being sucked in! Hold the rudder steady!" Luffy shouts over the roaring currents

"We're on it!" Sanji and Usopp goes over to the rudder

"Nami! Where's that entrance you were talking about?!We keep this up, we're gonna crash into the rocks!" Luffy yells

Nami looks through the fog and sees a opening "There's a crack in that cliff, that must be it"

"Nami, give us a direction!" Usopp shouts

"Keep bearing straight ahead!"

"You can't be serious?!" He yells

"Trust me!"

Luffy hops down and lands next to her "Is that the entrance?"

She smiles "More than likely!"

Hoping to take her mind of Zoro's physique, Umiko pulls out her binoculars and looks through them, smiling "We're really here!"

"I still say it's impossible, there's no way a ship can-" Before he could finish, Umiko placed the binoculars to his eyes and point them to the direction of the entrance. He looks through them, his jaw drops a bit "I gotta be dreaming...it's impossible! The ocean really is going up the mountain"

"Trust me, when you're on the grand line, expect the unexpected" she says

"We got to make our way through those water gates just right or we'll crash into the red line and be smash into pieces" Nami shouts

Umiko, still holding onto Zoro tightly, sees the ship was drafting off course "Luffy, the currents are pulling us away from the entrance!"

Luffy looks the distance and sees its true "Guys, we gonna go more to the right! The right!"

"The right!" Usopp and Sanji pulls the rudder to the right and the ship start drafting back on course. But due to them pulling too hard, the rudder breaks.

Everyone looks in shock at what happened "The rudder!"

The ship gets closer to the mountain edge and Nami starts panicking "Ahhhh! We're gonna crash!" She screams

Luffy acts quick "Now Gum Gum-"

Before he could make a move, everyone saw something unbelievable. They blink, thinking they were seeing things but no it was real. The sea formed a wall of water, which carefully but quickly push the ship back onto the right course.

Once the ship was on the canal, it shot up the mountain quickly. As everyone was shocked , Luffy looks back and sees the water wall returned to the sea.

"Hey guys, did you sees that?!"

Nami looked as shocked as him "So you saw it too!"

"Yeah! The water! It like turned into a giant wall!" He had stars in his eyes "It was so cool!"

"Is the sea alive in the grand line?" Usopp asked trembling in his boots

"Maybe there is a God smiling down on us" Sanji suggested

Zoro snorted "You really believe that? What a gullible cook"

"You say something, moss head?!" He snapped

"I'm not a moss head, you damn love cook!"

Umiko got out of Zoro's hold before they started fighting again and goes lays a hand on Luffy's shoulder, smiling "Whatever happened saved us. Now let's focus on what's happening now because we're on our way!"

Upon hearing that, he grins and goes straight to the front of the ship "I can see it, this is the greatest sea in the world, the Grand Line! Somewhere out there the one piece is waiting! And we're gonna find it, let's go!"

* * *

When they entered the Grand line, the crew encounter a giant whale named Laboon and his caretaker, Crocus. After Luffy tied up the men after whale meat, Crocus told them about Laboon's past. It turns out he was friends with a group of pirates who promised to come back for him when their adventure was finished. He said it's been 50 years since that day and Laboon was becoming restless. After Luffy's fight with Laboon, he painted his flag symbol on the whale and promised to return.

As Luffy was telling Laboon to be carful with the paint job, the rest of the crew was on the ship. Umiko search the ship for the criminals and frowned as she came across a pile of cut rope on the floor.

"Oh boy" She said "Guys, they're gone."

Nami looked down at her from the upper deck "Whose gone?"

"Yeah, she's right." Usopp said as he walked by her with wooden boards under his arm "Where are they?"

Nami oohed "You mean does two weirdoes? I just they escaped, must have happened when we were distracted by Laboon. I wonder who they were."

"But don't you think we should search for them? I mean I wouldn't want them coming after Laboon again."

Luffy jumps onto the deck and grins "I wouldn't worry, Umi! After the beating we gave them, I don't think they'll be coming back."

She sighs "If you're sure."

Umiko turns to him and sees him staring at something in his hand "You find something, Luffy?"

"Yeah, but I don't know what it is. It doesn't look like something I can eat."

She sweatdrops as she laughs awkwardly "Maybe you should let me take a look at it."

He shrugs and toss the object to her.

She catches it and smiles when she sees it "This is just what we need!"

"Really? What-"

Nami scream rip through the area, causing everyone, except Zoro who is sleeping, to turn in her direction.

"You mind? Keep it down." Luffy said annoyed from being interrupted.

Umiko pulls on his cheek "Don't be rude, she wouldn't scream without a good reason."

She climbs off the ship and makes her way to the distressed navigator "What's the problem?"

"Umi, it's broken! Broken!"

Sanji appears on the edge of the rock, standing with two plates in each hand, one on his head and one in his folded leg. "Is there some problem, my dearest Nami? If it's food you're worried about say no more! Of course, I can't forget about my lovely Umiko! I hope you're hungry!"

"Did someone say food?" Usopp ask eagerly as he climbs up the edge.

"In a minute, Sanji. Now what's broken, Nami?"

The navigator pushes the compass into her hand "The compass! The needle just spins it won't stop!"

The boys surround Umiko to take a look at the compass.

"Oh yeah, you're right."

"I don't know about you but I'm getting dizzy!"

"Whoa, this is cool."

"What's cool about this?!" Nami snaps "Without the compass, we're as good as screwed!"

A giggle stops Nami's rant. Everyone turns to Umiko, who found the situation a bit funny.

"Oh my sweet Umiko! Your giggles are like music to my ears!" Sanji coos, swirling around her in a love tornado.

"Knock it off!" Nami whacks him and glares at the other girl "What's so damn funny about this?"

Umiko smiles at her, unfazed by her glare "I thought I told you to expect the unexpected, didn't I?"

"What do ya mean by that?"

"The compass isn't broken. Did you really expect a normal one would work on the grand line?"

Nami expression flatten a bit "W-Well I..."

"I'm glad to hear that at least one of you know how things work around here."

The group turn to Crocus, who was listening to their conversation.

"Your friend is right about the compass. You see the grand line has little regard for the rules of the sea. Common sense is useless in this place."

"The needle, why does it spin?" Nami asks

"Because we are surrounded by a powerful magnetic field. The islands hear a riddle with magnetic minerals that cause all sorts of abnormalities. Also the winds and currents lack constancy in their patterns. As a navigator I'm sure you can appreciate the dilemma."

"So then, if we don't have a way to tell direction, then this whole trip is hopeless."

Nami grins sheepishly while rubbing her head "I don't know what to say. Now I know we're officially screwed."

"Hey, you're the navigator! So navigate us out of here!" Usopp said snapping at her

"Wow, this is delicious! You guys should really try it!" Luffy says as he continues to scarf down the tuna.

As he was busy eating another part of the tuna, Umiko went and snatch two big pieces of the tuna, so that the other could try some.

"Guys, you need to relax. We'll be fine" She says, putting the tuna, where she could keep an eye on it.

Nami snaps at Luffy and Usopp "Would you guys shut up for 5 seconds?!"

Then she turns to Umiko "Now since you're from the grand line, I suppose you know a way of navigating through it?"

She nods "Yup! All you need is a log pose."

"A log pose?" Nami ask confused 'Umi, I've never heard of it."

"A log pose is a special kind of compass that records levels of magnetism. In fact..."

She takes the object Luffy gave her out of her pocket and hands it to Nami "We have one, so like I said we're fine."

Corcus nods to her "It's a good thing your friend had one. Only a fool would navigate without one."

"Understood, excuse me for one second."

Umiko could sense Nami hostile intentions towards her and just closes her eyes and smile sweetly at her "Oh Nami..."

Nami stops in her track as she sees the smile "Y-Yeah?"

"Before you do anything, I will warn you that I'm not like the other guys here. I'm not sure if it's because they're all guys and know not to hit you or if it's just that they're scared of you. So I'll just say this..."

Nami flinches and starts trembling comical as she looks into Umiko's eyes that showed her nothing but promises to what her fate would be.

"If you decide to whack me or hit me for something as stupid as this, I'll return the favor to you tenfold. I'm normally a sweet and shy girl but don't forget, I've beaten Zoro's ass many times when we were kids and I can easily beat yours, understand?" She asks her shaking crew mate.

"C-Crystal, ma'am!" Nami squeaks

"My Umiko is so hot when she's threatening someone! And my dear Nami is so cute when she trembles!" Sanji said, gushing at the girls.

Usopp, who was shaking worse than Nami after seeing Umiko's look, sticks his head from behind Sanji "A-and here I-I thought w-we would have a normal non scary girl on the crew. She's almost as scary as Zoro!"

She turns to him, which causes him to hide back behind Sanji "You don't need to worry, Usopp. I'm only give her a warning, besides I'm still very new to this crew. So you don't really know me well enough."

"So Nami, was there something you wanted to ask me?"

The younger girl swallows hard, still a bit scared "S-So, you had one this whole time?"

"Actually Luffy was the one who found this log pose. I believe those criminals dropped it when they escaped, lucky us."

"Yeah" The navigator examines the device and notices something "But there's no dial face on this thing."

"You don't need one" Crocus said "Its a special brand of magnetism that runs through the grand line islands. Complete with it's own set of rules that makes it possible to get around. By recording the level of magnetism between two islands, you can chart a route between one island to the next. The log pose method is the only choice since the magnetism here presents huge problems for conventional navigation. As it turns out reverse mountain is a great starting point, it produces seven levels of magnetism. It doesn't matter which one you choose to start with, eventually all of them will pull against each other and form one route and the island at the end of that route is called Raftel. The last and most mysterious in the grand line. It's very existence was confirmed by the King of the Pirates, the only known person to have traveled the grand line in it's entirety."

"Raftel..." Nami said

"The King himself huh..." Umiko mutters

"That's it! That must be where the One Piece is hidden!" Usopp excitedly exclaims

"That's the most prominent theory, but no ones been able to set foot on Raftel island since."

"Heh.." Luffy grins, biting into the tuna bone "Don't worry, we'll know soon enough."

Crocus eyes widen at Luffy's proclamation

Said boy laid back in his seat with a bloated tummy and burped "Well I'm satisfied! You guys ready to go?"

Umiko and the boys eyes widen at the sight of the empty plates and cups "I told you that was for all of us!" Sanji snapped

"He...even ate the bones." Usopp mutters, still looking at the bones

Umiko looked at her captain "Um...Luffy, how did you eat them without choking?"

"A log pose..." Nami smiles down at the device on her wrist "We have to take special care of this! It's the key to finding the greatness treasure of all time!"

"You greedy, bottomless pig! You eat the meal I made for Nami and Umiko, well I hope you left room..." Sanji lifts his leg and round kicks Luffy in the stomach "For your dessert!"

Umiko quickly moves Usopp out of the way and watched as Luffy flew past Nami, breaking the log pose.

Umiko saw the look Nami's face as she stared down at the broken log pose.

"Uh-oh"

Nami slowly walk over to Sanji and Luffy.

"Ow..." Luffy groans, holding his head while sitting up "Why is everyone hitting me?"

"You never think about anyone but yourself and-"

"Sanji..."

Sanji cut his lecture and turns to Nami, grinning "Yes?"

"BOTH OF YOU GET OUT OF MY SIGHT BEFORE I WRING YOUR NECKS!" She screams, kicking them off the cliff and into the sea.

Umiko walks up to her and looks out at the sea "You do realize you just kicked Luffy, who is a devil fruit user, into the sea, right?"

"Really not the time, Umi!"

Usopp bulging eyes stand out the broken device on her wrist "So, correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the log pose work better when it's not broken?!"

"Oh no, our log pose is ruined!" She whined

"It's not that bad, all we need to do is get another one."

"And tell me Umi, where are we going to get other log pose? Nami asks

"Don't trouble yourselves" The three looked at Crocus "I will give you my own as a thank you for helping Laboon."

Laboon came up and dropped Sanji and Luffy, along with the two criminals onto the cliff side. The four of them were wet and breathless.

Luffy pants, holding onto his hat "Oh good, I'm not dead"

He looks to the right and sees the female criminal looking back on him and Sanji. Sanji notices them too and gets onto his feet.

Sanji walks up to her and kneels on one knee, holding out his hand "Hello dear lady, allow me to help you do your feet."

"Oh, thank you" She takes his hand and starts walking off with him

The other criminal, , sits up and speaks "Hey, we need a favor."

* * *

After meeting back up with the other, Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday were on their knees begging the straw hats to take them to a place called Whiskey Peak.

"Whiskey Peak?" Luffy said "Huh, that's a funny name."

"So, what is it?" Usopp asked

"That's where we live" Mr. Nine said, quickly adding "um, sir."

"How are you stranded? Where is your ship?"

"Well...it was destroyed." Ms. Wednesday said

Nami smirks and goes up in Mr. Nine's face "Asking us for a ride is pushing it Mr. Nine, especially after you tried to kill the whale."

Usopp looks at their clothing "And what's with the wardrobe? What are you supposed to be?"

"I am a King." He said

Nami grabbed his cheek and pulls on it as a vein pops on her head "You're lying!"

"No, please!" He begged

Ms. Wednesday bowed her head to them "We can't say!"

Mr. Nine kneels next to her "She's right! You have to believe us! Our only motive here is getting home. We'd tell you everything if we could but it's just that..."

"Mystery is our company's motto!"

"You see we have to be mysterious it's sort of a rule."

"We have confidence in your character. Can't you give us the same thing?!"

"Please were begging you! Show some mercy!"

"Don't do it!" Crocus strongly said "These two are this honest to the core! They can't be trusted!"

"That maybe true..." Umiko looked at them, they were giving her puppy dog eyes and pouty lips "But they are desperate, so maybe we could give them a ride."

Nami covered Umiko's eyes to avoid her giving them any mercy "Listen, I should mention our log pose were broken and we don't have another on. So, you still wanna ride with us?"

They instantly got on their feet and Mr. Nine snapped "What?! You broke it?! That was mine, those aren't cheap, ya know!"

"You're stuck here too?! How long you were going to make us beg before you bother to tell us?!" Ms. Wednesday asked furiously

Turning away from them, Nami smirks "Oh, I forget! Crocus gave us his log pose, so..."

They immediately got back on their knees and bowed to her "Please have pity on us."

Umiko places her hands on her hips, giving her crewmate a disapproving look "Honestly, Nami..."

"What? I'm just having fun!"

She sighs and looks at Luffy "Your call, Luffy"

Said captain looks at the criminals and said "It's fine, you can ride with us."

They gasped, staring at him shocked.

"You said your home is called whiskey peak? Let's go there"

"Why? These two are obviously some pretty shady characters! Why would we take them anywhere?" Usopp demanded to know

Luffy replied "It's fine. Don't sweat the small stuff."

"Choose your route careful" Crocus suggested "Once you head out from here, you'll be committed to that course."

Luffy looks back at him "That's ok, if we don't like it, we'll try a different route next time."

"I see."

"Ok, it's time we get going." He got off the table he was sitting on and stretches "Now that me and Laboon have an understanding, I can leave with a clear conscience."

Ms. Wednesday looks him, wonder who he was and why would he go out of his way to help a whale. "Just who on earth do you think you are?"

He finishes stretching and smirks at her "Me? Oh I'm the man who'll be King of the Pirates!"

As they were about to leave, the sun began set on the horizon, the sky color change from blue to purple and pink and Laboon voice was heard throughout the area.

"Should be good to go!" Crocus exclaims "The log pose has had plenty of time to stir the route. The needle should be pointing in the same direction as the map."

Nami nodded, looking at the log pose "It's pointing directly to Whiskey Peak."

"See ya, pops! Thanks again for the log pose! Take care!" Luffy said

"Have a safe trip, my boy!"

"Im off, Laboon! Get ready to fight when I'm cone back!"

Laboon voiced his agreement loudly.

"Ok, next stop Whiskey Peak!" He grins "Ready gang? Let's set sail!"

Everyone cheers and laughs as they set sail for their next destination.

"Oh I just remembered!" Umiko went to kitchen and came back with the two big pieces of tuna she saved from Luffy "Whose hungry?!"

Usopp ran up to her, drooling "Is that what I think it is?!"

"Yup! I got these before Luffy could get his hands on them.

Sanji, who came next to her to see the plate, cried into his arm "I...I'd have thought my precious Nami and beautiful Umiko...would never get to try the magnificent fish." Then he does a love tornado around Umiko "I should've known my sea angel would something so kind. I'd be so honored if you would taste it!"

She sweatdrops as she backs away from him "Uh thank you, I think."

Nami stared at the appetizing plate "Well, let's dig in!"

A hand stretched out to grab the plate but thanks to Umiko fast reflexes, she quickly dodges the hand and steps down on it, pinning it to the floor.

She looks at the owner of the hand "Luffy, you don't get any."

"Aww, but I'm hungry!"

Sanji kicks him in the head "How can you be hungry?! You ate most of the tuna and I'll the side dishes I made!" He goes and steps on the captain's head "I won't let you ruin this chance for the lady to this wonderful fish."

He turns to Umiko with hearts in his eye "Go on, ladies eat to your hearts content!"

Umiko broke pieces of the fish and handed a fair share to her crew mates except Luffy and Zoro, who was still asleep.

Usopp tried his share, his eyes twinkled "Yummy!"

"This is good!" Nami said

"Delicious!" Umiko cheered

"I'm so happy you ladies enjoyed it!" Sanji coos

Still on the floor, Luffy groans "Not fair."


	4. Whiskey Peak and Umiko's fear

As the Strawhats sail to Whiskey Peak, the climate suddenly change from warm and sunny to cold and chilly. Gray clouds covered the sky and snow fell from the sky, covering the Going Merry in a white frozen blanket. Nami, who was dressed in a green coat, pink and yellow plaided scarf and pink ear muffs, was looking out at the snow with a frown on her face.

"Can somebody please tell me why it's snowing? It was hot and sunny just a few minutes ago." She said

Umiko, who was dressed in a blue coat with a gold colored hat on her head, sighs from her place in front of the stove and turn towards her "Nami, I keep telling you this isn't the east blue anymore. Things work differently here in the grand line and the weather is just the beginning."

"Don't say that!" Nami cries "You might jinx us!"

Umiko just shook her head and return to what she was doing "You really should have done your research before coming here."

She frowns at her comment "You act like you know this sea like the back of your hand."

"Nami, I may not know everything but at least I know the basics."

She huffs and turns back to the window to see Luffy and Usopp having an aggressive snow fight on the deck "How they can be so freakin energetic in the freezing cold is beyond me."

"Considering the fact that they went out there without any coats on, their energetic spirits are what's keeping them from freezing to death." Umiko said as she turned off the shove.

She pours the sweet brown liquid into a cup and hands it to the navigator "Here, this will keep you warm. It's my take on hot chocolate."

Nami nodded in thanks and her eyes widen as she took a sip "Wow, this is delicious! It's better than the one Sanji made when you first came here."

Umiko smiles "I knew you'd like it."

Sanji calls out from outside "Nami, shall I shovel more snow for you?!"

The girls looks out and saw the deck was clearing up a bit with Sanji in the middle looking at them with hearts in his eyes.

"You're doing great! Keep going!" She replied unenthusiastically

"Thank you, my pleasure!"

Umiko looks out at him with sympathy "I made some hot chocolate, so come back in soon to warm up!"

"OH MY SWEET UMIKO! GOING OUT OF YOUR WAY AND RISK INJURING YOUR LOVELY HANDS JUST TO MAKE ME SOMETHING!" Sanji gushed as hearts floated around him. Then a fire of determination replaced the hearts "I'll finish this quickly so that I can taste the labor of your love!"

Umiko sweatdrops as she watches him shovel like a manic "I don't think I'll ever get use to him acting like that."

"Yeah, I admit I was weirded out at first but you'll get use to it" Nami grins "And it's a great way to get him to do whatever you want."

The bluenette shook her head again and went back to the shove. She glanced at the criminals sitting at the table, shivering under the red blankets they were provided.

"Excuse me, Doesn't this ship have a heater?" Mr. Nine asked "This environment is inhumane"

"I'm cold!" Ms. Wednesday whined

"Shut your mouths!" Nami snapped at them "You're not guests here. You wanna warm up?! Go shovel snow or something!"

"Here you go." Umiko placed two cups of her hot chocolate in front of them "This should keep you warm."

"Oh thank you!" Mr. Nine cried, taking a sip of the chocolate, his face showing blissful "Your kindness knows no bounds!"

"Yes..." Ms. Wednesday had the same blissful expression on her face "You're much better than the loud orange head over there."

"Shut up! Umiko, why the hell are you giving them hot chocolate? They're criminals, we don't owe them a damn thing!"

She looked at Nami, deadpanned "This is coming from a criminal herself."

Nami blushed

"Besides, I'd rather deal with them the way they are now than deal with them when they're sick. They'll be much more of a hassle if they catch a cold from this weather."

She blinks "That's a good point, way to think ahead."

The orange haired girl flinched as she heard a boom outside. She looked up at the sky and saw flashes of lightning. "Lightning? First snow, now lightning?! What's doing on with this weather?!"

Right after she said that, the wind starts picking up. "I've never seen anything like it. One minute, it's a cloudless sky, the next,it's a blizzard. It's like the normal rules of nature don't apply." She looked at Umiko "Just like you warned us."

She nodded "We have to be ready, if I remember right, whenever the weather starts changing like this, all hell will break loose."

A gloomy cloud appeared over Nami's head "Oh joy"

Ms. Wednesday smirked as she overheard their conversation "So what do you think? Ready to turn back yet?"

"You and your friends have no idea how to survive this place." Mr. Nine said

"I've noticed you haven't been steered for a while. Is that wise?"

Umiko eyes widen "Nami, did you ask Sanji to steer while he was shoveling the snow?"

"N-No but that's because I know where we were heading. I checked it a while ago."

The bluenette opened the door and stepped out "Well, you may want to check again."

Nami followed her and checked the log pose and screamed.

The boys except Zoro looked up from what they were doing.

"Huh?! What's wrong?!"

"Sounds mad."

"Don't be afraid! I'll save you!"

"Make a hard turn! 180 degrees, hurry!" Nami commanded

"A 180?! Why wound you want us to turn back?!" Usopp asked

"Did you forget something?" Luffy asked

"It's because we're sailing in the opposite direction of Whiskey Peak." Umiko said "But it's my fault, I didn't tell you guys how the elements work here. The sea, the sky, the winds act as if they have a mind of their own. Nothing is as it seem when it comes to the Grand Line."

"If it's anybody fault, it's the navigators. She should know the only way to navigate through this sea is by log pose." Ms. Wednesday commented

That comment earn her and her partner a swift kick by Nami sending them out of the kitchen "Shut your condescending mouth! And do something useful around here!"

She turned her attention back to the boys and said "Brace the yard, force the wind starbre, turn the ship 180 degrees to the left! Usopp, man the sails! Sanji, the helm!"

She turns to the criminals "Work you two!"

Usopp looked at the sky and the clouds parting "Hey, wait! Looks like the winds changed!"

A bright sun shined through the clouds as a warm spring air blows. Nami and Umiko took their coats and continue to help.

Umiko heard Usopp shouting and turned to him "What's going on?! We need to focus!"

"I know that! But that lazy idiot is still asleep" He complained, pointing at Zoro

Her eyes widen and jaw drops at the sight of her childhood friend "How can he sleep through all this?!"

She gasped at the sight of the waves "Nevermind him for now! The waves have become very high!"

Usopp climbed up onto the ropes and saw a big obstacle in their way "There's a iceberg at 10 o'clock! This isn't good!"

Then a sudden fog sweep the sea, covering the surround around them.

"A fog rolling in!" Sanji shouted

Nami was in a panic "This is crazy! What's going on?!"

As they were panicking, they were getting closer to the iceberg.

"Calm down! If we don't do something, the ship will hit the iceberg!" Umiko yelled

"It's too late! This is the end!" Usopp screamed

Umiko gasped as she saw how close they were to iceberg "Someone, hurry and get to the rudder and steer the ship away!"

Sanji ran to it and tried to move to ship away "It's stuck!"

"What?!" Nami and Umiko shouted

Nami ran into the kitchen and helped him move it "It's not moving!"

Everyone screamed as they braced themselves for the impact. However the impact never came. Usopp opened his eyes and looked around "Um, not that I'm not grateful for still being above water but what happened?"

Nami opened her eyes too and saw they were ok "But the iceberg?"

"Hey, look!" Luffy pointed to the left of the ship.

Everyone turned to his direction and saw that they were at least 4 meter away from the giant block of ice.

"But that's impossible!" Sanji said "We were in range! How did we get so far from it?"

"Does it matter?" Umiko said, getting on her feet "We survived, the ship's not damaged. All I have to say is let's leave it at that." She felt a change in the wind "And I'll say it now because I think another storm is coming!"

"Another one?!" Usopp cried

Nami looked up and saw how the clouds were passing by "She's right! The wind is picking up." Ahead of them, huge dark storm clouds began to cover the sky. "We have to hurry!"

"Big time!" Luffy said

* * *

Zoro woke up yawning and stretching his arms "I'm rested."

He got up and saw everyone except for Luffy, who was on the ship's head, Umiko and Nami, who were laying near the kitchen door, scattered around the deck on their stomachs or backs and thought they were relaxing.

"Hey, come on. The weathers nice and all but that's no reason to be lazy." Zoro said

A certain bluenette twitched at that word.

 _Lazy? Did he just say lazy?_

"We better be on the right path, that's all I can say."

 _Shut up, you bastard!_ Nami, Sanji, and Usopp thought pissed that he had the never to say that.

Zoro saw both Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday in front of him "What are you doing here?"

"You fool!" Mr. Nine exclaimed

"We're on a side mission to take them home. Their town's called Whiskey Peak." Luffy explained

"Since when did we become a transport service for thugs?" The green hair man asked "We don't owe them anything."

"I don't know."

He rolled his eyes "Why did I even asked?"

Nami got up and started walking down the stairs, ready to beat Zoro to a pulp. A hand gripped her shoulder, she looked behind her and saw Umiko making her way to him with her bangs covering her eyes and her other hand gripping her sword. Nami immediately knew what was going to happen. _I guess even if she likes him, she won't put up with his bull._ She nodded in approval. "Give him hell."

Zoro sat there, interrogating the criminal partners unaware of the danger coming his way. "I'm pretty sure I've seen you two somewhere before or maybe I haven't."

 **WHAP!**

Something hard collided in the back of his head causing to launch forward, hitting his forward on the floor. He gasped in pain, then turns to glare at the person who guts to knock him over head only to turn pale as he saw a very pissed off Umiko.

Now he knew Umiko was one of the sweetest, kindness and most reliable people he's ever known. But he also knows that when she's pissed, it's like dealing with the devil. And judging by the tight closed eye smile, the dark blue menacing aura around her and the way she's holding her sheathed sword, he knew he was going to pay hell.

"U-Umi..."

"Lazy? You think we're laying on the floor because we're lazy?" She asked, angrily gripping the sword in her hand.

He slowly backed away "I-"

 **WHAP!**

"The lazy one here is green haired moron on this ship, who slept through: Strong winds,"

 **WHAP!**

"Heavy snow,"

 **WHAP!**

"Booming thunder,"

 **WHAP!**

"And Huge waves while the rest of us were running around the ship trying to keep it in one piece!"

Everyone reacted differently to Zoro's beating. Nami had a pleased smirk on her face, Sanji was gushing over how hot he thought Umiko was when she's pissed, Usopp was shaking in his boots while watching the whole thing. Luffy was smiling, thinking about how well they got along and the criminals couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the swordsman.

After the beating, she returns to her sweet and shy self and smiles down at him "Now, promise me you won't sleep through something like that again, ok?"

Zoro laid on the down, his head covered in bumps and his face beaten black and blue "P-Promise."

Nami steps down and claps her hands "Ok, now that that's done. We need to stay alert! There's no way to know what's going to happen next. During the terror, most of us just experienced, I came to an understanding of why this sea is named the Grand Line. My navigation skills are worthless here, anything can happen but mark my words I will guide us through!"

"Um..." Usopp said "Ok, you sure about that, Nami?"

She smiles " Without a doubt, we're gonna be fine just wait and see."

As everyone gathered behind her, she points ahead "Speaking of which, we're here our journey on the Grand line comes to an end!"

Ahead, the crew sees the island of Whiskey Peak.

Luffy sits on the ship's figure head, excited "An island!"

"So, this is Whiskey Peak?" Sanji asks, taking in the view "The landscape is like nothing I've ever seen."

"Oh, those cactuses are humongous!"

"And where are you two going?" Umiko asks

The others turn and see that the criminals had jumped onto the rails of the ship.

"Thank you but we must be leaving." Mr. Nine said

"It's be an interesting ride to say the least." Ms. Wednesday comments

"Perhaps, we'll meet again someday."

Both of grin "Bye-Bye, baby."

With that said, they backflip into the sea and swam away.

"That's a quick exit." Nami said

"Those two are interesting but in a weird way." Umiko said

"They were weird alright. I guess we'll never know what those two were up to." Usopp said

"Who cares, we're landing!" Luffy announces

Nami looks at their path "Well, there's a water way right up to the shore line. It looks like we can go in by ship."

Next to her, Usopp begins to tremble "Um...I'm weighing the possibly of monsters out there."

"That's definitely a possibility. This is the Grand Line." Sanji said

Luffy turns to them with a grin on his face "No problem, if we find monsters we can just leave.."

"That's not true!" Nami said "According to what Crocus said, it's imperative we stay on on this island, at least for a little while."

"But why?" Luffy asks

"The log pose needs enough time to record the island's magnetic field, so until that's done we stay put. The log pose could require a different amount of time for each island, some will take a few hours, others will take several days."

"Suppose this island is crawling with monsters but we get stuck here waiting? That's stupid, we'd be done for! What's the point in gathering navigation coordinates if you're dead!" Usopp said panicking a little

Umiko walks up to him, patting him on the back "Come on, a few days won't hurt."

"Won't hurt?! Did you forget the possibility of monsters?! Monsters eating us alive will hurt!"

She turns serious "This is how navigation works on the Grand Line. Once the log pose has logged onto the magnetic field of this island, we can go on to locate the next island. If we don't to stay until the log pose is done then we risk wandering out at sea for days. I think it's better if we stay here than go out wandering this sea."

Nami nods "See, you just heard it from a native of the grand line, so we're staying."

Their long nosed friend looked miserable.

While the girls were talking, Luffy had a blank look on his face. After hearing that they had to stay, he grins "Let's not think about the monsters unless we have to. They're not even there."

"Good attitude, I like that." Umiko smiles

"I agree, there's no need to worry yet." Zoro said

"Now that that's settled, lets get going! I'll keep you safe, Ladies!" Sanji grins

Umiko sweatdrops while Zoro looked annoyed.

"Would you knock it off, you Romeo reject!"

"Huh?! You say somethin', moss haired bastard!"

"Umiko can protect herself!"

"What's wrong with a little extra protection?"

Usopp starts shaking as he uses both of his hands to hold his neck "I don't think I'll be able to make it with this cold. It's a condition, really. You guys should just go on without me."

Usopp's whining and the others fighting was starting to get on Nami's nerves, before she could step up to end the chaos, a loud whistle rip through the noise. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the sound.

"That's enough of that!" Umiko stood with her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face. "Sanji, Zoro enough fighting already! I appreciate the concern really, but I can protect myself thank you. If I need back up, you two will be there. Ok?"

"You can count on me, my sweet!" Sanji coos

Zoro shoot him a nasty glare before sending a smirk Umiko's way "You know I'll be watching your back."

She nods and turns to scared long nose "And Usopp, man up! You're the Great 'Captain' Usopp, remember?'

"Y-You're right!." He does a brave pose, though his legs were still shaking "O-Onward!"

Nami stood there, impressed with how Umiko handled things. _Normally, I'd have to beat these guys to a pulp to get them to stop. But with her here, I may get a break._

"Ok, now that you guys can stop acting like idiots, get ready and make sure you're prepared to run as well as fight."

As they entered, a fog starts covering the area, covering the crew's view. Despite the fog, thanks to her father, Umiko eye sight could see through it. Feeling like someone was watching them, she turned in the direction fast enough to see three figures duck from her view. She lays a hand on Zoro's arm, getting his attention. Zoro looks at her both share a silent conversation and nodded.

The fog clears a bit and the crew saw more figures on the land. Everyone was anxious and alert as the fog started to clear only to be surprised at the crowd that was cheering and waving at them like they were heroes.

As they set anchor near the shore, large man with the big curly blond hair wearing a blue suit and holding a gold saxophone greeted them. "My name is Igarappoi and it is my honor as mayor to welcome you to Whiskey Peak."

"Oh, great. My name is Luffy, nice to meet you. Nice hair, I like the curls." He said casually

"You'll find that this place thrives on making liquor and music. Hospitality is a matter of pride in our town. The smile is run long and the liquor flows as bountiful a seawater. Would you permit us to throw party in honor of your arrival so we may hear..." He clears his throat and makes strange noises before continuing "your tales of adventure?"

"We'd be glad to!" Luffy, Usoop and Sanji cheered.

"Idiots" Nami said

* * *

Nighttime came and the whole town was quiet, all except for one house where the welcome party was being held. Inside the citizens and the Strawhats were having a great time. Usoop was enjoying the praise and awe he got from his made up stories, Luffy was putting away plate after plate of food in his belly, Sanji looked like he was in heaven enjoying all the girls attention, and the rest was competing in a drinking contest except for Umiko.

"You don't have to join in!"

"Oh yes, he does! He needs the money!"

Umiko looks at orange haired friend, confused "What are you talking about?"

"He owes me!"

"At the risk of getting alcohol poisoning?!"

"Then you join in!"

"Keep me out of it! What is wrong with you?!"

"You should start getting use to this, when it comes to money she's always get like this." Zoro explains. He sighs and holds his cup up "Fine, lets do this."

"Yeah!" Nami and the others cheered

"Zoro!"

"I'll be fine, Umi. I can hold my liquor."

As the drinking competition began, one of the towns folk came up to her and offered her another drink "Come on sweetie, lighten up! Have another drink, this party is in honor of you and your friends!"

She pushes the cup away "As nice as that is, I'm good with one cup thank you. But can you point me to where the rest room is?"

"Down the hall, second door on the right."

She nods in thanks and makes her way there. After closing the door, she looks around and finds a window that's just the right size for her. "Perfect."

She climbs out of the window, grabs the edge of the ledge and starts climbing to the roof. "Now I just wait."

* * *

As the hours pass by, she heard the party slowing down a bit.

"Should have known you'd be up here."

She turns and sees Zoro standing behind her with a smirk on his face "You alway knew when something wasn't right with people. So with tip you off about them?"

Her cheeks turn the tint of pink and she giggled "Well it's kind of obvious, I mean really a town welcoming pirates? Even on the Grand Line, that's silly."

He sits besides her "Yeah, I guess you're right there."

"I'm kind of surprised that the rest of the crew let their guard down that easily."

He shrugs his shoulders "I think it's because of Luffy, that guy trusts people too easily. Oh, speaking of the crew, how are you liking things so far? You getting comfortable being a pirate?"

She looked at him for a second then up at the sky with a thoughtful expression in her eyes "To be honest I'm a little uncomfortable."

"Why?"

"I've been hiding my face underneath my cloak for years and now here I am without it. I trust you guys but I feel like I'll be a burden if I stay like this."

"Don't think like that." He said with a stern but determine tone in his voice "I'll make sure nothing happens."

"You can't promise that." She whispers

He opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off

"So I noticed you have two new swords, what happened to the two you had before?"

He frowned at her for changing the topic but decided to continue it another time "I fought against a powerful opponent and they were destroyed."

Umiko glanced at his swords and run her fingers across Wado Ichimonji's sheath, giving him a pained smile "At least this one survived."

"Yeah..."

"So who were you up against?"

Zoro tensed up, hesitating to reply knowing she wouldn't like the answer.

"Well?"

 _Better get it over with..._ "I was up against Hawkeye."

At the mention of that name, Umiko tensed up, her heart pounding hard against her chest, and her skin grow pale "W-What?"

He looked away ashamed at his lost and guilty for her reaction "Yeah..."

She looks at him, frantically and concerned "Why would you go up against him so soon?! The East Blue is consider the weakest sea among the four seas! Doing something like that is consider suicide!"

"I know..."

"So why?!"

"I HAD TO KNOW!"

She flinches at his risen voice.

He sees this and takes a few breaths calm himself down "I was arrogant and impatient, I had to know if I had what it took to take him down but..."

She gasps as he lifts his shirt and reveals a long scar that ran diagonally across his chest.

"Now that I know how far ahead of me he is, I have to train harder than I did before." He smirks "Then when I face him again, things will end different."

He heard a muffled noise and his eyes widen as looks up to Umiko crying. Her cheeks rosy pink with thick tears running down them, her eyes shut unable to look at him and her hands covering her mouth, muffling her cries.

Zoro panics and brings them to the middle of the roof so cover won't be blown. He brings her to his chest and holds her tight, it was what he did to calm her when they were young. "I'm sorry, I promise I won't to my opponent again. So please don't cry."

What he didn't know is that what happened was only half of the reason why she was crying. The other half was because she was afraid. Ever since joining the crew, she was thinking about finally telling him, telling all of them the truth about who her father was but...

 _I can't tell him...I can never tell him...if I do, he'll hate me, they all will._

She had no choice now. She didn't know when or if she should reveal her other secret but she knew one thing: despite her guilt from keeping from him and the other, her parentage must remain a secret if she wants to keep her friends close.

She leaned into his embrace, burying her face in his chest and he held her tighter. They stayed that way on top of the roof until the party ended.


End file.
